Tradefinanceshortagedeepening

There is a growing global shortage of trade finance, with more banks concerned about their ability to finance global trade according to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC’s newly-published 2016 Global Survey on Trade Finance canvassed opinion from 357 respondents in 109 countries worldwide.

This year’s edition shows that 61% of respondents – national, regional and global banks with trade finance functions – reported a global shortage of trade finance. The percentage reporting an increase in trade finance activity decreased to 52%, from 63% in 2015 and 80% in 2012. The perceived shortfall came predominantly from regional and global banks; 78% and 56% respectively, compared to 41% of national banks.

“We must emphasise the importance of trade finance,” commented ICC secretary general John Danilovich. “It is often forgotten – trade finance has dropped off the international agenda. We need to do more to communicate its central importance to the global economy.”

“This year’s survey highlights the challenges ahead, revealing that compliance is one of the main impediments to trade finance provision – with the majority of industry players only expecting complexity and cost to increase further over the rest of the year,” said Daniel Schmand, chair of the ICC Banking Commission.

“Urgent action is required to limit the effects of such requirements on trade finance provision, and to help meet the needs of global SMEs, which are being disproportionately affected.”

The 2016 survey shows that:

• Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) face 58% of total rejections, despite submitting 44% of all trade finance proposals, in contrast to 40% submitted by large corporates (33% of rejections) and 16% by multinational corporations (MNCs), which only received 9% of rejections.

• Nine out of 10 survey respondents cited the cost and complexity of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance requirements and know-your-customer (KYC) regulation as barriers to the provision of trade finance, against last year.

• Decreased use of traditional trade finance was also evident this year; nearly 50% of respondents reporting a decrease in commercial Letters of Credit (LCs) and nearly 35% reporting an increase in supply chain finance (SCF) deals.